Efficiency in Public Education - The role of socio-economic variables

Abstract

This study measures the efficiency of public education using an inefficiency effects function that controls the socio-economic and environmental factors simultaneously.  The model developed by Battese and Coelli (1995) is applied to a panel dataset. The study found that although the mean efficiency scores obtained from the model are lower than the efficiency scores from a conventional stochastic frontier model, the estimates are robust and consistent.   The empirical application used three-year panel data from Kansas school districts and found Kansas schools are generally efficient and the most of the educational inputs under the control of the school administration were either had a low or no influence on students’ achievement scores.  However, students’ socioeconomic factors were found to have a significant influence on their achievement scores.